148 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[January i, 1900. 



THE RUBBER TRADE AT AKRON. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



AT a recent meeting of the Akron Chamber of Commerce, 

 representatives of rubber companies said that employment 

 would be given to 1,500 additional men in this city within the 

 next two months, on account of the completion of additions to 

 a number of local rubber factories. Under these conditions, 

 manufacturers are concerned about the lack of housing facilities 

 in the city. Immediate efforts will be made by a special commit- 

 tee of the Chamber of Commerce to provide for an increase of 

 10,000 in the population of the city within the next three years. 

 Rubber manufacturers are already facing what has been termed 

 a small "labor famine" on account of the difficulty in securing 

 men and girls and men sufficiently skilled and properly adapted 

 to take positions in the various departments of the rubber fac- 

 tories. The need is especially for girls. Large display advertise- 

 ments are being run in daily newspapers, asking for female 

 workers for rubber factory work. 



Frank Talbott, assistant treasurer an auditor of the Firestone 

 Tire and Rubber Co., has resigned his position and with G. C. 

 Calbetzor, now general representative of the same company on 

 the Pacific coast, will establish a partnership to handle the 

 agency of the Firestone company jn Los Angeles. The agency 

 will be opened in January and will be conducted under the 

 name of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Mr. Talbott's suc- 

 cessor has not been determined. 



Mr. F. O. Sawyer, No. 3910 Olive street, St. Louis, one of 

 the veterans in the rubber tire trade, has disposed of his busi- 

 ness to the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., who are converting 

 the business into a branch which will be their distributing head- 

 quarters for the states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kan- 

 sas, and Texas. J. P. Trader will have charge of the branch. 



The Miller Rubber Co. have completed a new three story fac- 

 tory building, 100 x 40 feet. It has been put into use to enlarge 

 the company's output in druggists' sundries and molded goods. 



A fire in the cement department of the Goodyear Tire and 

 Rubber Co.'s factory on December 8, caused damages amounting 

 to about $2,000. The blaze was supposed to have been caused 

 by the accumulation of naphtha fumes. In an instant after 

 ignition, the flames filled the room, but fortunately the depart- 

 ment is located in a concrete block building which prevented the 

 spread of the fire. Workmen controlled the flames by using the 

 factory fire-fighting apparatus. As a result of the work of a 

 new automobile fire truck in the city department F. A. Seiber- 

 ling, president of the company, highly commended this type of fire 

 fighting vehicle. 



The force at the new plant of the Buckeye Rubber Co. is be- 

 ing gradually increased to prepare for the expected demand for 

 the new Kelly-Springfield pneumatic tire which has been recently 

 placed on the market in limited numbers. The tire is being man- 

 ufactured in the round, Bailey and flat tread types. H. G. Hodge, 

 Akron manager of the Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., w^ho mar- 

 ket the Kelly-Springfield tire, said that when the new factory is 

 operated at full capacity, 200 sets of pneumatics will be produced 

 daily. 



All of the large Akron tire companies will be represented 

 on the floors of the big automobile shows at New York. 

 The exhibits will generally be in charge of the New York branch 

 managers of the various companies. They will be represented 

 also at the Chicago show by the local managers there. 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. are gratified over the result 

 of Oliver P. Fritchle's run in an electric of his own make 

 from Denver to New York, where he arrived after 30 days' travel, 

 in which he averaged 100 miles a day over all roads. His elec- 

 tric was equipped with Goodyear long distance "Electric" tires, 

 a type which is designed to consume as little current as possible. 

 Mr. Fritchle arrived in New York with Denver air in three of 

 the tires, but the fourth was punctured in Chicago. 



The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. have established a branch 



in Atlanta, Georgia. O. L. Weaver, formerly in their branch in 

 Cincinnati, is in charge. 



The Empire Manufacturing Co. are putting on the market 

 several new lines of goods, such as inner tube casing patches 

 and other automobile accessories. The company have been 

 organized, with C. W. Wickline as president, Forest Firestone, 

 secretary, and M. G. Snyder, treasurer. The capitalization is 

 $10,000. 



An extension of the South Akron reclaiming plant of The 

 Diamond Rubber Co. is under construction. The old three story 

 factory building is being increased in length from 100 to 190 

 feet. This will mean about a 60 per cent, increase in floor 

 space. A piece of land 13 acres in extent has been purchased by 

 the company near this plant for possible future extensions. 



The Motz Clincher Tire and Rubber Co. recently sold the bal- 

 ance of their treasury stock to the amount of $15,000, out of a 

 total capitalization of $50,000. An official of the company stated 

 that the money thus realized will be used to extend the vehicle 

 and motor truck tire business of the company. Their product 

 is now made by the Buckeye Rubber Co., and the project of 

 constructing a plant of their own is under consideration. New 

 York and Chicago branches will be established after the auto- 

 mobile shows, with P. E. Bertsch in charge at New York. 



Claude Moody, representative of the Pennsylvania Rubber Co. 

 in Chicago, was in Akron lately for a conference with Isaac 

 C. Alden, general manager of the Pennsylvania company. Mr. 

 Moody has the supervision of the company's business from 

 Detroit to Salt Lake City. He was recently transferred from 

 Cleveland. 



Mr. James A. Braden, advertising manager of The Diamond 

 Rubber Co., who writes juvenile stories as a pastime, is the 

 author of "The Auto Boys," just placed on the market from the 

 press of the Saalfield Publishing Co. 



The Aluminum Flake Co. (Akron, Ohio), report having closed 

 the best year's business they have ever had. Already they have 

 requisitions and contracts calling for over 1,750,000 pounds in 

 1909. They have exported their product to England, Germany, 

 Russia and Australia, and their foreign business is steadily 

 growing. A contract has been closed with a firm in Berlin to 

 act as agents abroad, which calls for a minimum of 750,000 pounds 

 annually for five years. The company have produced a beauti- 

 ful aluminum oxide, which they hope to supply in quantities in 

 the near future. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN SAN FRANCISCO. 



BY A RESIDENT CORRESPONDENT. 



TPHE rubber trade is holding its own in the commercial life 

 *■ of San Francisco, and, on the whole, the report from the 

 rubber houses show a better feeling in the business than existed 

 last month. Druggists' sundries have been moving very satisfac- 

 torily, although probably not up to the standard of former years, 

 while the mechanical line is still rather quiet, and while about 

 the same as at this time last year, and while it is not expected 

 to do much in that line during the winter months, yet the me- 

 chanical business cannot be said to be quite up to normal. The 

 outlook for the spring months continues to improve, however, 

 and during the past month there have been heavy rains which 

 practically insure another season of good crops, which will have 

 great weight in stirring up a big spring activity, and which has 

 already caused a marked improvement in the departments for 

 rubber clothing and shoes. 



The diagonal cross-expansion piston packing made by the 

 Bowers Rubber Works, of San Francisco, which packing is re- 

 ferred to as "Dods" in the firm's advertisement in The India 

 Rubber World, will hereafter be designated and known as 

 "Skookum" piston packing. The change was made principally 

 on account of the trademark laws of this and other countries. 

 The word "Skookum," as Mr. Chase, manager of the company. 



